Mary Rambaran-Olm

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Mary Rambaran-Olm
OccupationMedieval historian
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Calgary (BA)
University of St Andrews (MLitt)
University of Glasgow (PhD)
ThesisJohn's Prayer: an edition, literary analysis and commentary (2012)
Doctoral advisorG. D. Caie[1]
Academic work
DisciplineMedieval Studies
InstitutionsUniversity of Toronto
Websitewww.english.utoronto.ca/facultystaff/facultyprofiles/Rambaran-Olm__Mary.htm Edit this at Wikidata

Mary Rambaran-Olm is a medieval historian specialising in the literature and history of early medieval England from the fifth to eleventh centuries. During her joint vice-presidency of the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists, she contributed to its renaming as the International Society for the Study of Early Medieval England.

Education[]

In 2012 Rambaran-Olm was awarded a PhD from the Department of English at the University of Glasgow for a thesis, entitled 'John's Prayer: an edition, literary analysis and commentary', examining a poem in the Exeter Book.[2] She previously studied for a BA in English and History at the University of Calgary and for an MLitt in Medieval Literature at the University of St Andrews.[3]

Career[]

Scholarship[]

Rambaran-Olm is the Provost's Post-doctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto in the Faculty of English and Drama.[4] Her research explores race in early medieval England, drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Stuart Hall and Dipesh Chakrabarty.[3] Her translation of The Descent Into Hell (or John the Baptist's Prayer) was praised as "accurate and readable", as well as bringing new insight into the idea of time in the poem.[5]

Along with Dr. and Dr. , Rambaran-Olm has served as a guest editor for the journal Postmedieval's volume Race, Revulsion, and Revolution.[6] The issue was widely read and broke a number of statistical records for the journal for readership and downloads.[7] As of April 2021, she is also writing a book on race in Early England for Cambridge University Press along with Dr. .[8] She has been commissioned to write a book on the Middle Ages and Far-Right Politics. Along with her academic publications, she has written a number of public-facing works, for History Workshop, Time, HistoriansSpeak and a forthcoming piece in Public Books.[9][10]

Activism[]

In 2019, she was a speaker at the Race Before Race symposium held at the Folger Shakespeare Library, which aimed to be critical of and imagine pathways for a more inclusive future for medieval and renaissance studies.[11] At this event, she publicly resigned from her position as 2nd Vice President of the (as it was named at the time) International Society of Anglo-Saxonists.[12] Rambaran-Olm's resignation came as a result of the organization's reluctance to change its name and other problems plaguing the organization, as well as issues within the wider field of early English studies. Her resignation served as a catalyst for the field to begin interrogating its antiquated terminology and the historical connection between the term 'Anglo-Saxon' and white supremacist ideologies.[13][14][15][16][17][18][19] As a result of her actions she experienced cyber bullying, racial abuse and threats of bodily attacks.[20] Several academic associations wrote statements of support to Rambaran-Olm, including: Queerdievalists; Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship; Medievalists of Color; the Islands of the North Atlantic Conference.[21][20][22][23]

Rambaran-Olm was one of the medievalists representing Medieval Studies during the 2020 organized by Professor and Professor Kevin Gannon in support of Black Lives Matter. While drawing praise for its content from academics, her video response drew so much negative attention from white supremacists that the comment section had to be shut down.[24][failed verification]

Selected publications[]

  • "Is the title of the Old English poem" The Descent into Hell" suitable?." Selim: Journal of the Spanish Society for Medieval English Language and Literature= Revista de la Sociedad Española de Lengua y Literatura Inglesa Medieval 13 (2005): 73-86.[25]
  • John the Baptist's Prayer, Or, 'The Descent Into Hell' from the Exeter Book: Text , Translation and Critical Study (Woodbridge: Boydell and Brewer, 2014).[26]
  • "The advantages and disadvantages of digital reconstruction and 'Anglo-Saxon' manuscripts." Digital Medievalist, 2015.[27]
  • Medievalism and the 'Flayed-Dane' Myth: English Perspectives between the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Centuries." in Flaying in the Premodern World: Practice and Representation, ed. by L. Tracy (Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 2017).[28]
  • "Introduction: Race, Revulsion and Revolution", Postmedieval, 11.4, 2020. co-edited with Dr. Breann M Leake and Dr. Micah Goodrich.[29]
  • "A Wrinkle in Medieval Time: Ironing Out the Problems of Periodization, Gatekeeping, and "Others" in Early English Studies," New Literary History, Spring 2022.[30]
  • Mary Rabaran-Olm and Erik Wade, 'The Many Myths of the Term ‘Anglo-Saxon’, Smithsonian Magazine,15 July 2021[31]

References[]

  1. ^ Enlighten: Theses – John's Prayer: an edition, literary analysis and commentary, University of Glasgow, 2017, retrieved 12 April 2021
  2. ^ Rambaran-Olm, Mary Rosanna (2012). John's Prayer: an edition, literary analysis and commentary (PhD thesis). University of Glasgow.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Rambaran-Olm, Mary". www.english.utoronto.ca. Retrieved 2020-09-15.
  4. ^ "The Canadian Society of Medievalists - Provost's Postdoctoral Fellow in the University of Toronto". www.canadianmedievalists.org. Retrieved 2020-09-15.
  5. ^ Discenza, Nicole Guenther (2015-01-01). "15.05.23, Rambaran-Olm, John the Baptist's Prayer". The Medieval Review. ISSN 1096-746X.
  6. ^ "About / News | postmedieval – a journal of medieval cultural studies | palgrave". www.palgrave.com. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  7. ^ Rambaran-Olm, Mary; Leake, M. Breann; Goodrich, Micah James (2020-12-01). "Medieval studies: the stakes of the field". postmedieval. 11 (4): 356–370. doi:10.1057/s41280-020-00205-5. ISSN 2040-5979.
  8. ^ "Dr. Erik Wade — Department of English, American, and Celtic Studies". www.iaak.uni-bonn.de. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  9. ^ "Misnaming the Medieval: Rejecting "Anglo-Saxon" Studies". History Workshop. 2019-11-04. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  10. ^ "The Middle Ages Have Been Misused by the Far Right. Here's Why It's So Important to Get Medieval History Right". Time. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  11. ^ "ASU medieval center brings conversations about race to our nation's capital". ASU Now: Access, Excellence, Impact. 2019-08-27. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  12. ^ Natanson, Hannah. "'It's all white people': Allegations of white supremacy are tearing apart a prestigious medieval studies group". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-09-15.
  13. ^ Bridge, Mark. "Drop the term Anglo-Saxon as it is 'bound up with white supremacy', say academics". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  14. ^ "Statement on the Anglo-Saxon Discussion". Remembering the Medieval Present: Generative Uses of England's Pre-Conquest Past, 10th to 15th Centuries. 2019-09-04.
  15. ^ "Medieval Studies Struggles Against White Supremacist Elements in the Field". Diverse. 2020-03-18. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  16. ^ Wood, Michael. "As a racism row rumbles on, is it time to retire the term 'Anglo-Saxon'?". HistoryExtra. Retrieved 2021-04-12.
  17. ^ Gaulhofer, 13 11 2019 um 12:24 von Karl (2019-11-13). "Angelsächsisch? Das wird man bald nicht mehr sagen dürfen". Die Presse (in German). Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  18. ^ "Il termine anglosassone va messo al bando? Gli storici si interrogano: lo usano suprematisti bianchi". Blitz quotidiano (in Italian). 2019-11-09. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  19. ^ Ellard, Donna Beth (2019), "Becoming postSaxon", Anglo-Saxon(ist) Pasts, postSaxon Futures, Punctum Books, pp. 337–354, ISBN 978-1-950192-39-7, JSTOR j.ctv11hptgz.10, retrieved 2020-09-22
  20. ^ Jump up to: a b "SMFS | SMFS Statement in Support of Dr. Mary Rambaran-Olm". smfsweb.org. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  21. ^ "Queerdievalists' Statement in Support of Dr. Mary Rambaran-Olm". Queerdievalists. 2019-09-13. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  22. ^ "Statement of Support for Dr. Mary Rambaran-Olm – Medievalists of Color". Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  23. ^ "Statement of Support of Dr. Mary Rambaran-Olm and the Medievalists of Color". IONA: Islands of the North Atlantic. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  24. ^ "Medieval Studies, White Supremacy and BLM". Scholar Strike. 9 September 2020.
  25. ^ Rambaran-Olm, M. R. (2005). "Is the title of the Old English poem "The Descent into Hell" suitable?". Selim: Journal of the Spanish Society for Medieval English Language and Literature = Revista de la Sociedad Española de Lengua y Literatura Inglesa Medieval (13): 73–86. ISSN 1132-631X.
  26. ^ 'John the Baptist's prayer' or 'The descent into hell' from the Exeter book. Text, translation and critical study. Rambaran-Olm, M. R. Woodbridge. ISBN 978-1-78204-200-6. OCLC 881430454.CS1 maint: others (link)
  27. ^ Rambaran-Olm, M. R. (2015-04-17). "The advantages and disadvantages of digital reconstruction and Anglo-Saxon manuscripts". Digital Medievalist. 9 (0). doi:10.16995/dm.49. ISSN 1715-0736.
  28. ^ "Flaying in the Pre-Modern World". Boydell and Brewer. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  29. ^ Rambaran-Olm, Mary; Breann Leake, M.; Goodrich, Micah James (2020-12-01). "Medieval studies: the stakes of the field". postmedieval. 11 (4): 356–370. doi:10.1057/s41280-020-00205-5. ISSN 2040-5979.
  30. ^ "New Literary History: About NLH". newliteraryhistory.org. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  31. ^ Rambaran-Olm, Erik Wade,Mary. "The Many Myths of the Term 'Anglo-Saxon'". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2021-07-15.

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